DIY Co2 your thoughts?

[meese-a-mew]

What are your thoughts on diy co2? Did it work for your or was it a low reward for a lot of hassle?


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[Fresh2o]

In my 20g planted tank it made a dramatic difference in growth. Prior to using it, growth in most of the plants was slow to slow-medium at best. I was using Excel but at the standard dosage. Several weeks after introduction of DIY CO2, there was an improvement in most plants and some plants were removed entirely because they grew TOO fast and too big for the tank.
The growth outweighed the weekly maintenance IMO. Eventually I converted to a pressurized setup.


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[meese-a-mew]

Ok thanks! What did u use to diffuse the co2


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[Fresh2o]

Drilled a small hole in the HOB filter intake tube and pushed the CO2 tubing into it and let the filter handle the distribution.


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[meese-a-mew]

What mixture did u use?


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[limnologist]

the diy system worked wonders for me. I used a 1 gallon milk jug and connected the out-put hose to my filter so the gas would be evenly distributed.

 

[Fresh2o]

I used a pair of 2L bottles each with 2 cups sugar + 1/2 tsp of baker's yeast (it's been over 6 months and I can't quite remember the exact details).
I used enough one way valves to allow me to disconnect a bottle and refresh it without the system losing pressure.
Here is a long boring read:
My DIY CO2 Setup


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[meese-a-mew]

How long did it usually take to start producing co2? And did u use baking soda


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[meese-a-mew]

Oh and your bubbles per second if u happen to remember or like whats a good bps


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[Fresh2o]

How long did it usually take to start producing co2? And did u use baking soda


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Usually a couple of hours. Sometimes less. If it takes a while them either the temp is too low or there is a leak in the plumbing.
No baking soda. Just never tried it.


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[Brookster123]

Usually a couple of hours. Sometimes less. If it takes a while them either the temp is too low or there is a leak in the plumbing.
No baking soda. Just never tried it.


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I've used fresh's method (find his thread) with the reccomend heat and baking soda, had bubbles within an hour every time.. I took great care in constructing all components, testing everything in a 5 gal.bucket for leaks helps!

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[meese-a-mew]

Do I unplug the hose from the filter at night or do I just leave it in. It's in an internal filter btw.


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[Fresh2o]

Scroll up to post #7 for the link.
Also check he check valves. I know that sounds weird but the inexpensive ones can be hot or miss. I use a plastic syringe to test their ability to prevent back flow. Especially helpful when running multiple bottles.


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[Fresh2o]

Do I unplug the hose from the filter at night or do I just leave it in. It's in an internal filter btw.


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I let it run. If you are really concerned about CO2 build up then you can put a small pump or air pump on a timer and run it at night.


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[Fresh2o]

Oh and your bubbles per second if u happen to remember or like whats a good bps


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Sorry, I missed this one. Hmmm...I think I got 1 bps. Not sure.
One thing you can get that applies to DIY and pressurized is a drop checker. It will give you an idea of how much CO2 is getting dissolved in the water column. With DIY I believe it got a light green color most of the time.


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[meese-a-mew]

Here are some pic of my setup
It shoots out a pretty good amount of bubbles. When I had it off the filter it was at more then a bubble a second like a bubble every .88 seconds and the air pump is for the air stone


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